Interview With Fly By Midnight and Premiere of "Brooklyn" Music Video
After roaming around the internet looking for new music to catch my ear, I gave up and settled on an 8tracks playlist. I keep coming back to this website and I'm sure glad I have stayed loyal throughout the years. I was listening to tracks absentmindedly while doing who knows what (online shopping) ... when suddenly a slick beat came up and I heard something about "oregano."
Within the first 30 seconds of Fly By Midnight's new song I was hooked. Then when the chorus came on, I was sold. I try to dip my toes into multiple genres of music but I'm always aiming to find fun hits to accompany the likes of Walk The Moon and Capital Cities in a playlist and this passed the test with flying colors. The lyrics and video game sounding beeps stuck with me and I've had the song "Brooklyn" on repeat ever since.
They've been teasing for awhile, releasing three separate trailers in order to get fans pumped for the release of their first music video, but it was worth the wait! The music video itself enhances the song and couldn't be more adorable. A song that tells of love (lust) and experiencing the city of Brooklyn is sure to steal your heart and have you giggling along with the events. Equipped with not only children, a montage scene of trying on different outfits, and also a dance sequence of them doing "The Brooklyn," you're sure to get a kick out of it.
With only one single out, New York City based Fly By Midnight is new to the game as a duo but you can't tell. Their enthusiasm and love for what they do is captured in their new adorably fun music video and presence on social media. Identified as a mix of multiple genres such as dance, electronic, experimental pop, indie drive, and alternative, they are bound to appeal to you in some way or another, whether it's because of their hilarious and catchy lyrics or fun danceable beat.
In addition to being incredibly talented musicians, Justin Bryte and Justin Slavo of Fly By Midnight are two extremely personable guys. I was fortunate enough to grab an interview with these two and although it was through email, I found myself laughing along and getting a feel for both of their personalities.
Justin Bryte: I’ve been all about music ever since I could remember. Throughout high school I was definitely the theater geek who jammed out to Katy Perry in his spare time. Towards the end of my senior year, after being convinced by a girl I had been dating, I had started to take up singing and writing pop music. Before I knew it, I was working with our production team The Emergence and from there I decided to throw up some YouTube covers. The rest was history.
Slavo: Ever since I was two years old my parents have called me the entertainer of the family and I guess it's because I would always run around the house putting on little performances with my toy microphone and guitar. When I was 10 years old, my parents bought me my first guitar and I played it every single day until I was good enough to be in my older brothers band about a year later. Ever since then I can't remember a day where I wasn't doing something related to music.
You both are named Justin, has that ever caused any confusion?
Justin Bryte: *laughs* So firstly we call Justin Slaven "Slavo" at the studio to avoid confusion.
Slavo: It was a nickname I got playing football back in high school and it kind of stuck with me.
Justin Bryte: But we were in LA for music and came across two girls who kept calling us “J- Squared.” It was cute at first and then I was like … that sounds like a KPop boy band, please stop.
Slavo: Yeah, we're definitely looking forward to how our fans will handle the double Justin thing... should be interesting.
Justin Bryte left, Slavo Right
How did the two of you meet and in turn form Fly By Midnight?
Slavo: Justin and I met through our production company TE Music Group. I started as a co-producer on a few of his solo tracks including "Brooklyn," which is the first song we wrote together. I knew at this point he was looking to go in a different direction with his music, but none of us were really thinking to put the two of us together. It was only during that first night of laying vocals on "Brooklyn" where I jumped in the booth to add some harmonies to the track. Justin and the team were sold. I literally walked out of the booth into an offer to start a new project.
Justin Bryte: I wanted to take the music to the next level and as soon as Slavo laid down some harmonies I was like, “Damn, this changes everything.”
Justin Bryte: We’d love to give some elaborate and exciting answer about the competition, but honestly it’s the weirdest thing ever. We submitted “Brooklyn” before it was even finished just out of pure curiosity and hadn’t heard from them in months. I almost forgot about the whole thing and then right before we hopped on a flight to Florida, the e-mail came in. We’re super grateful and stoked about moving forward. Root us on!
Do you write your own music and how is your writing process?
Slavo: I love it when this question comes up. Justin and I are very narrative people and we strive to write lyrics as descriptive and different as possible. Whenever we start a song, it's usually because Justin starts talking about a random experience in his life (like his time at Brooklyn College that inspired Brooklyn) or something we have experienced together. From there we sit down with either minimal production or a guitar and write away. We're fortunate that our production company also serves as a writing camp so we do a lot of the writing with them as well.
Justin Bryte: Lately we’ve been super inspired by artists like Jon Bellion and Betty Who. Two unique artists that are changing the pop scene right now.
Slavo: I'll second that. I love Jon Bellion's production process and Betty Who is simply vibin'.
Who are your favorite bands, current or otherwise?
Justin Bryte: My music taste has been all over the place lately. Some days I can dive into some Boys Like Girls and other days I can kick back to The Beatles.
Slavo: I've always been a huge fan of A Day to Remember and Story of The Year. Those dudes got me through high school.
When can we look forward to seeing you on tour?
Justin Bryte: We’re in a lot talks for upcoming tours, but until we announce them, we’re promoting our main stage performance at the creator festival PlayList Live DC in early September. We’ll be performing all new originals, as well as meeting fans. We’re super hyped for that one. Its going to be a ton of fun.
Where in the US (or otherwise) would you love to perform?
Justin Bryte: We’ve been fortunate enough to travel a lot lately for music. When we were in LA recently, we were too busy to play a show, but I’d definitely like to do that in the near future.
Slavo: I would love to go to Australia and perform. Just the thought of music potentially allowing me to see different parts of the world gives me chills.
Where do you see yourselves a year from now?
Justin Bryte: I think a goal of ours is to be able to continue growing our fan base more and more everyday. There’s nothing more rewarding than watching someone become a fan... Not just a number behind a computer screen, but a real fan. A year from now I want to meet more of those people. Wherever they are.
Slavo: I see us continuing to hustle for what we love. Justin and I are very similar in a way that we both understand our success as artists relies on our dedication and hard work. No matter if we end up on the radio a year from now or we're still playing local shows, we will always hustle like we've got nothing.
Do either of you have any strange talents you’d like your fans to know about?
Slavo: For anyone that follows Justin Bryte on social media you will notice he does what is called the "Justin Bryte face". My strange talent is that I am able to basically replicate that face. It's pretty impressive.
Both doing the "Justin Bryte *smolder* face"
Justin Bryte: Real funny dude... but he is really good at it. Got to give credit where credit’s deserved. I don’t think this is a talent... more just a weird fact about me -- I need to have a full stomach in order to perform my best. Most artists can’t eat before a show and here I am stuffing my face.
Your favorite memory of being in Fly By Midnight thus far?
Justin Bryte: I have a lot of favorite memories so far. It’s funny man, because this whole project is still really fresh and new, yet it feels like we’ve been at this for a while. The “Brooklyn” video shoot continues to give me chills. Just seeing the vision Slavo and I created come to life was insanely rewarding. Everything we try to do with this Fly By Midnight project revolves around coloring outside the lines and the “Brooklyn” video is a prime example.
Slavo: A favorite memory for me would have to be our first trip as Fly By Midnight out to Los Angeles. So many songs could come out of that experience I wouldn't even know where to begin.
My "haha" memory is when we came home from a bar one night with an In and Out burger and I accidentally dropped it on the sidewalk. The funny part was watching Justin grab pieces of a scattered burger and put them back together in the form of a taco because he was drunk and desperately hungry. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard!
Justin Bryte: Don’t judge, that burger was awesome. I’m most definitely telling an embarrassing story of you in our next interview though. Game on. *laughs*
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